[nkrishnap]

Hi Guys,

I have been travelling off late quite a bit and have had not much of a chance to post the travelogue due to various reasons

Did a trip to Kerala for my friend's wedding on the 12th of September 2012 in Kollam.

Had taken delivery of my FIAT Linea on the 5th of September 2012. The best thing that I could do is take the Linea out on a drive.

Travelers - Myself, My Better Half and My Close Pal.

Day 1 - 8th November 2012

The day started off with me dropping my wife along with the luggage to my in laws place and and then head to 3M to get the Paint sealant, Underbody Coating and the Mats for the rear seats.

By the time the things were finished and I returned to my in laws place it was 6 pm. There was prayers on account of Krishna Janmastami so had no chance of starting off before 9 pm. With the dinner done and dusted, start off from my in laws place at 9.45 pm and headed to the Kengeri to pick my close friend up from his house, but not before tanking up at the new BPCL petrol bunk near Rajarajeshwarinagar (Rajarajeshwari Temple). We left from my friend's place at exactly 10.30 pm. Took the nice road and exited at Hosur to continue towards Dindigul. Stopped at the BPCL Ghar for a small break to have a strong coffee.

A pic from the mobile



Right after we left from BPCL Ghar it started raining and it was quite heavy at a few places. The drive was a bit slow due to the rains which accompanied us up to Namakkal.

Reached Dindigul at 4.30 am. Checked into a hotel room to take a bit rest.

Route - Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul

Road condition - Excellent 4 lane roads all the way till Dindigul.

Day 2 - 9th September 2012

Woke up at 8 am and got ready by 8.45 am to leave towards Pilliarpatti. A visit to the temple and from then on our plan was to reach Kollam by evening.

Reached the Karpaka Vinayagar Temple at 10 am. Straight away headed to the Darshan. With very little crowds, the darshan was a pleasant and a short one too. We are ready to be get moving towards Madurai at 10.30 am.

We had tender coconut and it costed a whopping 30 bucks for each. Bangalore tender coconut seemed cheaper

Drove to Madurai sedately to reach by noon. Headed to a veg restaurant for the lunch. A nice sumptuous lunch ensured each one of us felt very sleepy.

Took the deviation from Thirumangalam and headed on the state highway 208 towards Tenkasi. Freshly laid tarmac ensured the drive was smooth. This route has some good amount of long and some tight curves makes the drive interesting.

See the road for yourself



The road after Puliyangudi had loads of work going on and few rough patches to boot. There are numerous humps which makes the progress slow

Reached Tenkasi at 5 pm and decided to stopped for Tea at Tenkasi. The rain clouds threatened to break loose, but luckily it did not. The roads deteriorated on the ghats and were really bad on the hairpin bends.

A stop over after the Palaravi Water falls. Since it was already 6 pm could not visit the falls.

A stop enroute.



It started drizzling and the photo opportunity became bleak and the darkness was setting in.

Reached Kollam at 8.30 pm not before waiting at one of the level crossing for close to 25 mins.

A nice dinner ensured we crashed to the comfortable beds with our tummies full.

Route - Dindigul - Tirupattur - Pilliarpatti - Melur - Madurai - Thirumangalam - Tenkasi - Thenmala - Punalur - Kollam

Road condition - Stretch between Pilliarpatti and Melur was quite good except for all the roads inside the small cities/towns en-route had deteriorated. Madurai to Kollam - Roads excellent up to Puliyangudi. The roads turned from Excellent to narrow, broken and typical ghat routes with quite a few broken patches

Day 3 - 10th September 2012, Day 4 - 11th September 2012 and Day 5 - 12th September 2012

Got up and took a pic of the place the car was parked (inside my friend's house)



Checked in to Hotel Sea Place near the Kollam beach on the 10th Morning as the whole gang of friends would arrive at this hotel and would stay here.

Nothing much on these days except for a bit of shopping and a Visit to Varkala Beach.



The car had become very dirty due the drive in the rains for the past 2 days. After the hard work of cleaning it up.



to be contd....

[nkrishnap]

Day 6 - 13th September 2012

It was earlier decided that we would travel further to Kanyakumari but not before visiting the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

Start off at 8 am and it took us a good 2 hours to reach the temple. Parked the car, did the customary visit to the Temple and it was time to depart towards Kanyakumari.

A place after Suchindram





My friend posing with the Linea.



At the beach







Returned to the Hotel and had to attend something urgent at work.

Route - Kollam - Trivandrum - Nagercoil - Suchindram - Kanyakumari

Road conditon - A mixed bag here. The roads more or less broken at until the last few kms to Kanyakumari.

Day 6 - 14th September 2012

Vivekananda Rock and Thiruvallur Statue



The hills in the back ground



The clouds bringing rain



The rising sun













After the sunrise, we got ready, finished breakfast and started our journey towards Rameshwaram.

On the way tanked up the car to the brim and continue our Journey towards Tirunelveli. Stopped over for lunch at hotel Uma Shankar opp to the main bus stand. The lunch was very good.

Started our journey towards Madurai (was not sure about the condition of the ECR from Tuticorin towards Ramanathapuram)

We reached rameshwaram by late evening and lodged in to the room. The lunch at Tirunelveli was so heavy that we unanimously decided to skip dinner.

We finally got some well deserved rest.

Route - Kanyakumari - Tirunelveli - Virudhanagar - Thirmangalam - Madurai bypass - Manamadurai - Ramanathapuram - Rameshwaram

Road Condition - Excellent throughout.

To be contd...

[nkrishnap]

Day 7 - 15th September 2012

As per instructions from my parents, we headed for the samudra snanam and the theertha snanam at the temple and then followed by the darshan.

By the time we were back to the hotel, it as 11.30 and the sun was blazing away to glory. Walked bare foot was simply impossible.

A quick lunch and we departed from Rameshwaram and headed towards Madurai.

Stopped at the Pambam bridge for a few photos





The details about the bridge



The bridge for the railways.



Stopped over at Madurai for filter coffee and then tanked the car too.

The final leg of the journey began towards Bangalore.

Reached home after dropping my friend at 1 am in the night.

Route - Rameshwaram - Ramanathapuram - Manamadurai - Madurai - Dindigul - Karur - Namakkal - Salem - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore

Road Condition - Excellent roads through out.

Overall mileage achieved during the trip ~ 18 kmpl.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[ampere]

Now that is a travelogue which I wanted to read. And of course the sunrise captures are fantastic. Nice to see the Linea take the centre stage.
Pilliarpatti is one place which *I love to visit.

All the best for many many more !

[F150]

Wow man. Those roads lined by coconut trees and that mango tree in the home reminds me of my home town.

Fantastic travelogue ! You certainly seem to love you LINEA. What FE did it return at what speeds ?

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by ampere

Now that is a travelogue which I wanted to read. And of course the sunrise captures are fantastic. Nice to see the Linea take the centre stage.
Pilliarpatti is one place which *I love to visit.

All the best for many many more !

Simply loved the Linea for the highway drive it offers. Also enjoy quite a few railfanning at the railway level crossing which we crossed quite a few times. But was really lazy to click pics or take videos.

Simply love Pilliarpatti for the simplicity the temple offers, no fuss about too many rules or anything. I make it a point to visit this place atleast once a year.

All these years I used to ride down to Pilliarpatti in my RTR. Now the Linea has taken over that rule, since I will have my wife accompanying me most times.

Originally Posted by F150

Wow man. Those roads lined by coconut trees and that mango tree in the home reminds me of my home town.

Fantastic travelogue ! You certainly seem to love you LINEA. What FE did it return at what speeds ?

Overall FE was 18.xx kmpl. More towards the 18 number. The top speed I did was 120 kmph for a few seconds, else the speed was hovering in the range of 80-110 kmph. A lot slower on the Kerala roads and the ghats.

By the way, the car had around 200 kms on the odo when the drive from Bangalore started.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Simply loved the Linea for the highway drive it offers. Also enjoy quite a few railfanning at the railway level crossing which we crossed quite a few times. But was really lazy to click pics or take videos.

Very true! Also did you take the Nattam route from Dindigul to Pilliarpatti?
If yes how easy it was to get out on to Nattam road from the Dindigul town?

Simply love Pilliarpatti for the simplicity the temple offers, no fuss about too many rules or anything. I make it a point to visit this place atleast once a year.

Thats the very reason, why even I like that temple. Low on crowds and a nice calm place to visit.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by ampere

Very true! Also did you take the Nattam route from Dindigul to Pilliarpatti?
If yes how easy it was to get out on to Nattam road from the Dindigul town?

Yes took the Natham - Tirupattur route to Pilliarpatti from Dindigul. Its not too difficult to get on to the Nattham road, however, watch out for the one way near the Dindigul bus stand, after which you will have to take right and then left again to head to the Natham road.

Thats the very reason, why even I like that temple. Low on crowds and a nice calm place to visit.

And nobody to disturb you offering various pooja things and trying to loot you.

[girishglg]

Very nice pics indeed especially the sun, sea and the bridge. Not sure if you are done with your TL or this was just a trailer .

Boy o boy did anyone say that Linea is a sizzling beauty

The pics fully redeems that statement and must say this is still one of the best looking sedans in our country and with a backdrops such as the ones in your pic the white beauty is surely stands out!

Congrats on your purchase and keep the pics coming!

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Very nice pics indeed especially the sun, sea and the bridge. Not sure if you are done with your TL or this was just a trailer .

Boy o boy did anyone say that Linea is a sizzling beauty

The pics fully redeems that statement and must say this is still one of the best looking sedans in our country and with a backdrops such as the ones in your pic the white beauty is surely stands out!

Congrats on your purchase and keep the pics coming!

Thank you for liking the pic and the travelogue. However, that is all I have from this log as I had to work for 3 days out of the 5 days off that I had taken

Will be posting another log soon with more pics of the location as well as the Linea.